The Tangled Webs We Weave
by White Firebird
Summary: When Peter Parker & Mary Jane go to Angel Grove, California to see the President give a speech, things go wrong. Venom has aligned himself with Lord Zedd, and Spidey finds himself teaming with unfamiliar faces and a face from the past. PR/S-M Crossover.
1. The Final Battle

**AN: Hey folks! First off, I want to aplogize for the long updates as far as my two other stories go, I literally have had no time to work on them lately, but now I do, so expect them to be updated real soon! Alright, now this story was thought of between me and one of my friends on a whim, and I decided that it was too good to not be written, so I decided to go ahead and do it! Now I know the category does list Spider-Man, but believe me, this is just as much a Spider-Man story as it is a Power Rangers story. Oh the beauty of crossing universes over with each other. Well, I hope you all enjoy it, and remember, I don't own any of the characters or places, or anything that you've seen/read/heard of before in this story. It all belongs to Marvel and Disney. The first part of the story is Peter Parker's POV on everything, in case you get confused. The bit where Felicia and Peter go at it is taken from a graphic novel, "The Evil That Men Do." It just seemed to fit, so don't hate! Enjoy the ride!**

I've never realized how good looking New York looks from up here, on top of the Daily Bugle. The lights, the sky, the way the moon shines on the water, the constantly busy streets...and whatever thoughts I had about New York are gone, out the window, as I hear screaming below me. So I sigh. It never stops here in the city that never sleeps. As I leap down to see what could possibly be causing the disturbance, my mind begins to wander back home, to what MJ could possibly be doing right now. Probably sitting in bed, watching the news, worrying herself sick about me, like she always does. Usually, I'd tell her that I have everything under control, but this time, I can't blame her if she is worrying about me. The past few months have been pure hell for little ol' me.

It all started back in April. I was swinging through downtown on my way to meet MJ for lunch at our favorite restaurant when, out of the corner of my eye, I see someone running through the streets. At first, I tried to ignore it, thinking it was nothing, hoping the cops could take care of it, but then my spider sense went haywire, and soon after that, a large explosion was heard, followed by many cries for help. Turns out that Shocker escaped from jail and was tearing the streets apart again, like only that shock jock could. Imagine how happy MJ was when I stood her up to tango with Shocker. So over the next few days, the two of us would fight and fight until I finally managed to get him to basically make a building collapse on him. He survived, thankfully due to that suit of his, and then he was hauled off to jail once more, where he's been ever since. You'd think it'd be over, right? Incorrect, buster! It only just began.

Soon came Doc Ock, oh boy, that was as fun as recieving two root canals. Then after ol' Ock was Rhino...then Electro....then Vulture...then Mysterio....Chameleon...Hydro Man...you get the point I'm trying to make, right? Good. I hope so. But the strange thing about that entire thing was...well, for one, I thought that I was always being followed. By Venom. Like, I know he escaped the psychiatric ward and is on the loose, but nobody's heard from him and he hasn't done anything that I know about...but I just can't shake the feeling that he's watching me every where I go, waiting for the opportunity to strike.

Ahh, here we go. Standard theft. Shouldn't take me any longer than ten minutes.

"Heya buddy, where do ya think you'd be going with all that jewlery?", I ask in a smarmy, sarcastic tone, as the burglar looks like he's just collectively pee'd his pants at the sight of me. So he turns in the other direction and runs. Oh, why do they always have to run...

The other thing is, much like I feel that Venom is constantly watching my every move...I feel like I'm being haunted by the memory of...of....

Felicia.

I haven't seen or heard from her in ages. The last time I saw her was months and months ago, right before the chaos started. She had just helped me lock up an underground gang that was planning to go on a killing spree that would have ended with the Mayor. I remember standing on top of a tall building that had a view of everything. She looked so damn beautiful...

_------------_

"How are you enjoying the view? Better view than having one of those losers boots being driven near your face, huh?"

Peter looked to his sometimes partner and former lover, her long, platinum blonde hair flowing in the wind as she had her back turned to him, arms crossed underneath her breasts as the moon shined off of her black leather suit. Peter, through his mask, instantly regretted even asking, seeing as the two of them were on shaky terms as it was. Peter then curtly nodded his head, cursing himself for even asking as he turned to swing away.

"Well, um...I can see that you don't want to be bothered right now, so uh, I'll just thank you for your help with defeating those thugs and I'll be on my merry way. Thanks again."

Peter took one last, long look at the back of her head, shook his head, and unfurled a webline, and prepared himself to swing away when suddenly...

"Stop."

Peter stopped, just like her voice had directed him to. Underneath the mask, his eyes squinted to see what exactly was going on, tilting his head to the side. The woman slowly turned around, her arms still crossed underneath her breasts, before dropping them to the side, taking one of her white-gloved hands and running it through her hair. Her green eyes were like daggers, ripping through his flesh and going straight for his heart. Her lips were pursed shut until she let out a sigh. Things weren't any easier for Felicia Hardy, aka The Black Cat. In fact, they were just as difficult for her. She wouldn't have to tell the news just yet...but having it sit there in the pit of her stomach just made her feel queasy. Nevertheless, she carried onward. Spider needed a piece of her mind.

"What is it, Felicia? Why did you tell me to stop? Heck, why did you even help me out down there? What's going on?"

"What is this, 20 Questions?"

Peter rolled his eyes; typical Felicia. Though right now, even though he wouldn't admit it, that's exactly what he was looking for.

"Well what do you want from me, Leesh? We've already been through the struggles, the trials and tribulations, I mean, what more could you possibly want from me? Can't you understand that I'm happy with MJ? Can't you--"

"Spider, before I gag, please, shut up....and stop _whining_. You think that it's all about you? You think that the problems that we've had in the past and present are all my fault, that you're the victim of everything? What about _me_, Spider? You think I'm happy with how everything has gone? Do you?"

"Felicia..."

"No, Spider, it's my turn to talk. Truth of the matter is, I'm not happy with how everything went. I wanted everything to work between you and me, and if you had given me more time, I would have come around and realized that I didn't love just Spider-Man, that I loved Peter Parker too...but all it is with you is how I'm the bad person, waah waah waah. Get over yourself, Peter."

"Leesh..."

"**No**! I'm not nearly finished yet! Here's one other thing that I don't get about you...would it be so hard for you to just say thank you? Would it kill you to be appreciative of what I've done for you and all the times I've helped you? Like for example, hey, thanks for that one time when you surely saved my ass from getting killed by Smythe's Spider Slayers. Or, hey Felicia, that was really, really sweet of you to go through that surgery and get those bad luck powers so that we could team up together and you could watch my back in the field. Or even right now, look Leesh, thanks a bunch for kicking that gun out of that guy's hand, you saved me from getting a bullet in the back of my head that my Spider Sense wouldn't of ever been able to detect! And then you turn around and complain about stuff that we can't do anything to change. All I ever get is the sob story and that I loved the amazing Spider-Man, not little ol' Peter Parker. _Boo friggin hoo!_ God, you just make me...I just...oooh, man, you can really tick me off sometimes!"

Peter looked Felicia with amused eyes through his mask. He wasn't surprised with the ferocity of her rant there, nor was he surprised that she layed it on fairly thick. He was surprised at how she had managed to sound pissed but not mean to be harmful in any way. He smiled underneath, slowly shaking his head in approval of what she had said. He wanted her to say those things. It gave him the perfect comeback for this type of situation. So he rolled his neck and cleared his throat.

This would win her over.

"Hey. Felicia. You sure saved my ass from geeting killed that one time by Smythe's Spider Slayers. And y'know, it was really, really sweet of you to go through that surgery to get those bad luck powers so that we could team up together and you could watch my back in the field. And the way you kicked that gun out of that guy's head so that a bullet didn't go into the back of my head, the one my Spider Sense would never been able to detect? Man--you rock."

A small, subtle grin crept across Felicia's lips as she looked at Peter out of the corner of her eye. "Ooh, he's a good one", she thought to herself as she saw him inch closer and closer to where she was standing. She turned her head, so that he couldn't see her smiling. Peter always had a way with words around her, and he had just gotten his way once more. She took a quick glance over her shoulder, but turned away just as quickly as she had looked; he was right behind her, and even though the mask did a good job of hiding it, she knew, she just knew that he had a big shit-eating grin plastered all over his face. She felt his gloved hand touch her shoulder, and it sent shivers up and down her spine, and his touch warmed her heart.

It felt good to have him touch her like that again.

"Shut up, Parker."

"Listen Felicia, I'm sorry I came down on you that hard. The past few weeks have been rougher than usual. MJ's on edge with this whole deal. I'm sorry. My bad. Friends?"

Felicia turned around to face Peter, looking at him with a serious expression. His hand was extended towards her, like he was asking for a handshake. Instead, she decided to do him one better, and leaped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and head, while his own hands slowly, comfortably slipped around her waist. Now she had him right where she wanted him. She even contemplated sliding his mask up above his lips and just kissing him like old times; to hell with the fact that he was a happy, married man. It wasn't like Mary Plain was going to find out she put a move on her wittle Petey Parker. But she knew that would have to come if the time was right, if and only if. Smiling as she rubbed the back of his masked head, she breathed heavily as his grip around her waist got tighter, her boobs pressing against his chest as she knew he was struggling to resist the urge to just ravage her right then and there.

It felt good to see Peter Parker melt like putty right in her hands again.

"I really hate you sometimes, you know that?"

"And I'm thoroughly disgusted and appalled with you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Welcome back, Party Hardy."

As soon as Peter spoke those words, she frowned and released the grasp she had on the back of his head, breaking out of his grip and walking towards the ledge of the building, her back turned as she began rubbing her right arm. She was hating the fact that she'd have to tell him this just when they had patched things up again. Peter tilted his head to the side, wondering why she just broke off like that, so coldly. He walked to her and reached out to touch her shoulder, but she turned around and smacked it away. He wasn't expecting that. A lone tear could be seen streaking down Felicia's face, her lower lip beginning to quiver as Peter rubbed the hand she had smacked away. Throwing herself back into his arms, she felt at ease with everything, but that still didn't make the news she had to tell him any better on herself. As she melted into his chest, his arms now comfortably wrapped around her waist, she decided that now would be the time to drop this bomb of hers.

"What's the matter, Felicia? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?", he asked in-between her sobs, his masked chin now resting on the crown of her head, letting her cry as he tried to comfort her the best he could.

"It's just...oh Peter, I hate to do this to you, I really do....", she began before trailing off, burying her head deeper into his chest, the tears freely flowing now as she gripped his suit and held onto it tightly as he began to rub her back and console her.

"I'm going away...I leave tomorrow afternoon for California. And then after that, I'm taking a flight to Hawaii. I'm going away on....personal business. I don't know when I'll be back..."

Peter backed away, releasing his hold, hand on the back of his head rubbing his mask. Did she just say what he think she had just said? There was no way she had uttered the words, _"I leave for California...I don't know when I'll be back."_ Why the hell was this always happening to him? Just when someone had re-entered his life after being out of it for so damn long, they disappeared just as quickly as they had reappeared. It had happened between him and Felicia before, not to mention Betty Brant, Liz Allan, and many other women. Hell, Mary Jane herself had done it numerous times before she had finally learned to come to grips with the fact that her husband was your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. And don't even....bring up, so to speak....Gwen Stacy. For as many times as Peter had said he had convinced himself that she was in a better place and moved on from Gwen's horrifying and deeply saddening, depressing and unfortunate death when she got caught in the crossfire of the never-ending war between Peter and the Green Goblin...he still felt vacant inside whenever she was brought up. He held himself responsible for her death. He had loved her madly, and he had missed her terribly. He wished she was still alive, and he wished he could of been there for the day that him and Mary Jane had gotten married; the two of them had gotten along like sisters when she was alive, and she was the first real, true love for Mr. Parker. Losing her the way he did nearly drove him to the brink of insanity, and the fact that some of his enemies had used her death as a punchline to a sick joke, danced on her grave, just made the wound seem even more open and fresh, and caused him to deal with the grief and the regret once more.

Now Felicia was leaving him on ''personal business'', right after he had just gotten her back as a partner and friend. What did he do to deserve this? What super hero god did he piss off to get such bad like like the bad luck he had been dealt his entire time wearing the costume? It was one thing after another it seemed, and as Peter Parker, the amazing Spider-Man, came back down to earth, he was beginning to realize that he was going to be alone once more as far as his alter ego's life went. Captain America was overseas fighting terrorists in Iran. Ironman and War Machine were busy with their constant struggle against Iron Monger. Nobody knew where Hulk or Thor were. Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm and the rest of the X-Men were holed up at Xavier's Academy, devising a game plan to stop Magneto's reign of terror. And the Fantastic Four, Iceman and Fire Star were currently in Canada searching for clues on the Silver Surfer's last supposed appearance, just north of Calgary. Peter shook his head. He said the only thing that came to mind at that moment.

"What?"

"I said, Spider, that I'm going to be leaving tomorrow for California, en route to Hawaii on personal matters, business that I need to take care of. I do not know when I will be back here in New York. It may be a day, it may be a week, a month, hell Spider, it may be a whole year. The only thing I know for sure is that it'll be a while before you see me prancing around in my suit, saving your butt again."

"You can't be serious, Felicia....you just came back, in a sense, into my life. And now you're gone just as fast as you came? What gives?"

"Please Peter, don't make this any harder on me than it already is, alright?"

"I'm not trying to make anything harder on you or on myself here, Leesh, I'm just trying to figure out why the hell you'd appear out of nowhere like you did tonight, help me wrack up those goons and get them carted off to jail, make nice with me, and then tell me you that you're leaving for Hawaii."

"I said that it was personal business. That's all you need to know."

"Why did you help me tonight?"

"Tonight was the night I was going to find you and tell you. I had been searching all over the city looking for you, and I even contemplated going to your home and knocking down your door to let you know. I just happened to luck out when I swung by over the alleyway down there. I saw how many there were and I took the appropriate action to make sure that you weren't killed or taken advantage of."

"That doesn't..."

"I didn't expect on making up with you tonight, so that's what's made this so hard for me, Peter. I had expected to just tell you that I wasn't going to be around, leave, and then go do what I need to do. This was all very unexpected. I hope you understand."

To be honest, Peter didn't understand. He wanted Felicia to trust him. He wanted her to confide in him like she had over the years. He wanted to be there for her as much as humanly possible. And now she was just up and leaving for god knows how long. Why couldn't she tell him why she was going? Why couldn't she put that trust back in him?

"I don't really understand, Leesh, but I'm going to try my best to accept the fact that...well, you won't be around these parts for quite some time. I just want you to know that whatever it is you're going to be doing in California and Hawaii, you have my full support. I wish you nothing but the best. I'm glad we were able to clear things up and get back on the same page. I'll miss you, Felicia."

"And I will miss you too, Peter."

"Good to know. Try and keep in touch, if you can. Well...I best get going. MJ's probably wanting to kill me for being away so long without contacting her, so--"

Before Peter could even finish his sentence, Felicia was up on him, rolling the lower part of his mask up so that his mouth was exposed, and then thrust herself forward, passionatly kissing him as her tongue began to dance around inside his mouth, his tongue doing the same inside hers. Time stood still for the two former star crossed super heroes as they relived one of the finer moments of their time spent together, drinking from each other as continued that deep, slightly fierce, but entirely romantic liplock. After an eternity of kissing each other, the two of them broke off and stared at each other; Felicia was blushing wildly and had a little grin on her face, while Peter was amazed that the two of them still had that spark of theirs, in awe of what just happened. Felicia then stepped forward and gave him a big, tight hug before turning away and heading towards the ledge, preparing herself to begin her travel back home. She turned her head to face Peter, who was still standing in shock, and another lone tear began to roll down her cheek. This was it.

"Good bye, Peter. I love you."

Felicia had said those three words to a few men in her time, but whenever she said it to Peter, she meant every last bit of it. Married man or not, she still harbored stong feelings for him and would give up everything if it meant that she could be with Peter forever. Her eyes began to well up a bit more, with Peter saying nothing, his jaw shut, his eyes surely wide behind the mask. Felicia took this as her que to leave, slightly nodding her head as she wiped away a few tears, before rapelling off and swinging back across town to her apartment in SoHo. Peter watched her swing away, before her black suit was lost in the dark of night, his hands on his hips now dropped to his sides as he let out a deep, emphatic sigh, rolling his mask back down over his mouth, before turning in his own direction to head home. He contemplated going after her for a moment, before giving that thought up as he unleashed a webline and began to web from building to building. After a few seconds, he stopped himself as he stuck to a wall, his eyes back in the direction of where Felicia was going. He thought of all the good times he had spent with her, and all the bad times. He regretted none of them. So it wasn't entirely hard for him to regret saying what he said to himself next as he resumed his swinging across the city.

"I love you too, Felicia...."

------------

That was months ago. I haven't heard from her since. I've sent letter after letter, I called the hotel in California she was staying at, and I've even sent her the rare e-mail (honestly, do I look like the kind of person who would know how to properly use a computer?), but I continue to get no return letter or e-mail, and no phone calls either. It makes me worry about her, but as she said, it was personal business, so I'm going to leave it at that and hope for the best as far as she goes. It'd of been nice to have her around the past few months, fighting all of those damn loons. But it is what it is, and I can't change the fact that Felicia isn't here anymore. Where ever she is right now though, I really do hope that she's taking care of herself and is well.

So, going back to the task at hand. Standard theft. Turns out it was a jewlrey store. Nothing big. As I cling to the wall, I look at the work I've done, and I can't help but admire it. It's rather simple, but stilll a giant web cocoon is a giant web cocoon, and unless you're someone like Doc Ock or Venom, you're not breaking out of it. The guy tries to threaten me, though with all the webbing covering his mouth, I'm surprised sound can come out, let alone form a coherent thought of actually wanting to try and kill me.

Leaping forward, I notice the bag of jewels in his clenched fist, so I take them and then go on my merry way, right as the cops show up. Two seconds later and the jewels that were once stolen are now back in their rightful place with their rightful owners. Wow, tonight was a slow night, even by New York standards. My spider sense hasn't been bugging me for a while, and the streets and rooftops seem relatively quiet. Does this mean...does this mean I can go home early? I can see MJ sooner than expected! Woo hoo! This i's gonna be great. But soon though...things go haywire.

I began to swing back home, when suddenly my spider sense went crazy and basically screamed at me to move out of the way of an incoming attack, so I listened to it and I dodged. I had no clue what it was, but the moment a dark cloud appeared and the skies went blacker than usual, I knew something was going wrong at that moment.

"Hello, Spider-Man. We've been waiting for you for an awful long time. We don't take kindly to waiting."

Venom. Oh **shit**. I **KNEW** I was being watched by him! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!

You know that whole thing about seeing MJ earlier than expected?

I spoke too soon.

_--------------_

"Can you quit that? For just one minute guys? I'm trying to get teleportation back online, and I need silence."

"What? We're not doing anything wrong!"

"It's kind of wrong watching someone you consider a sister make out and act all lovey dovey around someone you call your best friend."

"Oh, just leave them alone. They're koo koo for each other, if you didn't already notice. I think it's cute."

"I'll tell you what I think..."

"Why dont'cha tell us what you were thinking when you decided to get braids and abandon the high top fade?"

Five of the six teenagers then burst out into laughter, while the one wearing glasses rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders before getting back to work. He then made a note to himself to close the garage door so that nobody could see what was going on inside of it.

To the normal adult or kid, these six teenagers looked well...normal. Ordinary. Plain. A group of friends who were inseparable and did everything together. You'd think that by taking one look at them, wouldn't you? If you were normal, that is.

Truth of the matter is, these six kids were anything but normal. Billy Cranston, the brainiac of the group. The one who used all sorts of techno babble to describe everything, the smartest kid in all of Angel Grove High. Trini Kwan, the calm and compassionate one, the other intellectual of the group who usually translated Billy's techno talk. Jason Lee Scott, the big-hearted, helpful, outgoing guardian who had his friend's backs no matter what. Zack Taylor, the quick witted, clever jokester who always maintained a positive attitude. Kimberly Hart, the heartbeat of the group who was so loveable, you couldn't bring yourself to hate her if she burned your house down. And Tommy Oliver, the unequivical leader of the group who, while forgetful most times, was good natured at heart and had a kind soul and a passion for martial arts like no other.

To their parents, teachers, Ernie and other friends, they were just six normal teenagers.

But in reality, they were secretly the superhuman fighting force that had been protecting Angel Grove for over a year now.

They were the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Tommy, the leader, the White Ranger. Jason, the former leader, the Red Ranger. Trini, the level headed one, the Yellow Ranger. Billy, the genious, the Blue Ranger. Zack, the boisterous one, the Black Ranger. And Kimberly, the glue of the team, the Pink Ranger. They were bonded together by their mentor, Zordon of Eltar, and his faithful robotic assistant, Alpha 5 of Edenoi. Together, the six of them were the protectors of Angel Grove and the entire Earth.

And now they were goofing off.

"Seriously guys, you need to stop making so much noise!", Billy said with mild annoyance as he hovered over his work bench, toying around with the six communicators that served as their link to Zordon and the Command Center.

"Aw lighten up Billy, we're just having fun. Relax man. It's not like Zedd's gonna spring a monster on us at this very moment", Jason reasoned as he playfully smacked Billy on the back.

"After today, if I ever see another Putty Patroller or monster, it'll be too soon", Kimberly whined as she let Tommy hold her, his arms wrapped comfortably around her waist as she rested her back against his chest.

"After today, I don't think Zedd will try anything funny with us for quite some time", Trini said quietly as she flipped through the channels on the television Billy had set up in his garage, looking for any breaking news updates on their battle today.

"Did I ever tell you guys how much I hate bugs? Yeesh. They give me the creeps, yes they do!", Zack exclaimed as she shuddered and rubbed his shoulders; today they encountered another bug monster and Zack definatly was not pleased.

"Only a million and one times, Zack. You gotta get over that one day, man. It's not healthy", Tommy muttered as he rested his chin on Kimberly's head, nuzzling it while she giggled.

No sooner than Billy had put his screwdriver down after tweaking with his own communicator, the familiar six beep tone that meant they were getting an incoming transmission from Zordon or one of themselves ringed through the air, causing everyone to stop doing what they were doing. Billy grabbed his communicator, strapped it to his wrist, and began to speak.

"Billy here. What's going on Zordon?"

"Ahh yes, very good. Communication is back online, my friends. I apologize for any problems this may have caused."

"What happened anyways, Zordon?"

"Alpha was practicing his dance moves again and caused the short circuiting."

Five heads and ten eyes then slowly turned and focussed on Zack, who had this look on his face that basically said, "Who, me?". He gave them that cheesy smile whenever he knew he was responsible for something, and sure enough, he was responsible for teaching Alpha some basic dance moves. He tried to laugh it off but was quickly shot down.

"Don't even", Trini said sternly, her eyes fixed on Zack's now-worried face, while Jason put a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her.

"Trini, now come on, don't go killing him. That won't solve anything..."

"Thanks man, I--"

"Just beat him around a bit, or maybe leave him in just his boxers, then pin him to the wall with your Power Daggers for a few hours. That'd be better than killing him."

"Whose side are you on, man? Are you nuts? She'll actually do it! Tommy, help me out here, dude!"

Tommy went to go say something but was met with not only a glare from Trini, but from Kimberly as well. He quickly closed his mouth and gave Zack an apologetic smile.

"Sorry man, I'm not getting into this one. You're on your own."

"Billy, my main man--''

"I wish to not be involved in this exorbitant quarrel, I do not wish to designate myself in this roundabout."

"Um...Trini?"

"He doesn't want to pick sides. Good Billy."

"Calm down, Rangers. Alpha is sorry for the inconvienence and hopes that he didn't accidentally alarm any of you. It was a simple mistake. And congratulations on your victory today, Rangers. I am so very proud of you all."

"Thank you, Zordon. We appreciate it."

"Very well then. Take care, Rangers."

"We will, Zordon."

After Billy ended the communication link between him and Zordon, chaos was already unfolding around his garage. Jason was on a bench, using his free hand to hold himself up and prevent himself from falling to the floor, while he used his other hand to cover his stomach, his laughter causing him to nearly double over as he watched Trini chase Zack around the area, crowbar in her hand, while Kimberly began to laugh herself, with Tommy watching on in horror at the mean streak that he was seeing in Trini.

"Come ON, Trini! **LAY OFF! **I ONLY TAUGHT HIM A FEW MOVES! HOW DID I KNOW HE'D ACTUALLY GO AND PRACTICE THEM?!?", Zack yelled as he narrowly ducked under a basketball getting thrown at his head.

**"YOU NEARLY GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK! I THOUGHT THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH ZORDON!", **Trini screamed right back at him.

"Triniiii!", Zack whined as he leaped over a tipped over stool, staying literally just one step ahead of the enraged Yellow Ranger.

"Keep complaining buddy, just keep complaining! Wait till I get my hands on you!", she bellowed as she followed Zack's path, only to be cut off by Jason, who, despite the fact that his face was as red as his suit due to the laughter, managed a tight hold on the pissed off Yellow Ranger, who was flailing her arms wildly and kicking her feet, while Zack was a safe distance away, near the garage door, catching his breath.

Kimberly, by now, was laughing hysterically, head buried in her arms as she laid her head on the counter top behind her, pounding her fist on the table for some added emphasis. Tommy was amazed that she had that kind of ferocity in her, and muttered to himself, "Maybe Zordon should of made her the leader", as he shook his head in disbelief at what he just saw.

Billy, on the other hand, looked around at his garage. It was a total mess thanks to Zack and Trini. He couldn't think of the words to say, because words nearly couldn't describe what he was feeling right now. Tommy put his hand on Billy's shoulder and shook him a bit, but got nothing in the form of a response.

"Billy? You okay man?"

Billy turned his body so that he was facing Tommy. His face was expressionless, only slightly wincing at Trini's thrashings and insults being hurled at Zack. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, sighing emphatically as he looked into Tommy's eyes.

"Why me?"

_--------------_

"Stop trying to run, you spineless, pathetric excuse for a hero! We promise to kill you as painfully as possible! Now hold still!"

Spider-Man had ducked another blow intended for his head, springing away to the top of some wooden crates as Venom, his sadistic, ruthless and barbaric nemesis, removed his large fist from the wall and turned to face Spidey. Spidey calculated that he had exactly 4.3 seconds to figure out how to evade his foe's next attack in search of higher ground. But before anything could be done on his part, Venom was already inches away from his face, freakishly large tongue sticking out, green drool and everything, as his massive body hurtled towards Spidey, crashing into him as they went flying onto the ground.

He was off by one second.

"Eddie, why are you doing this!? What's your motive?!? WHY?!?", Peter Parker yelled underneath the mask as he tangled with Eddie Brock, the man who had been chosen by the alien symbiote that made up his black suit. The two men were now rolling on the dusty pavement, neither of them gaining any distinct advantage as they tussled to try and break apart from each other. Venom went to slash at Spidey's face but he moved his head to the right and, using a lot of his leg strength, monkey flipped Venom over onto his back, but as Spidey kipped up, Venom shot a webline at his feet as he was in mid-air, jerking the line back towards him, which caused Spider-Man to fall face first onto the ground as Venom dragged him towards his clutches. Venom grabbed Spidey by the ankles and held him upside down by them, with Spidey trying to regain his bearings.

"We have no motive other than to end this, infernal wall-crawler. For far too long, we have been watching you, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. But, as our luck would have it, we waited in line as we saw you dispose of some of your more menial, secondary enemies. Like we said earlier, insufferable web head....we do not take kindly to waiting."

The words were making an impact on Peter; he knew he had been stalked by Venom over these months. He knew he could feel his presence every time he did battle with Vulture, Electro, and all the other loons that were now locked up in jail. He could feel Venom taunting him from the shadows, biding his time, waiting to strike when the right time arose. It made his blood boil knowing that all this time, through all these months, Venom was right there and he could of done something about it, but he didn't act on his instincts.

"This is it, Spider Boy. We are ending this tonight. This is our final dance. We will have our last battle right here. And we will be left standing while we devour your carcass."

"You talk...a big game...Eddie..."

"What is that, whelp? Are you daring to mock us?"

"But you can't....back...it up!"

With that, Peter came to life and punched Eddie in both kneecaps, which weakened him a bit as his grip loosened around his ankles. Peter fell onto his head and felt a small crack, but he knew he had to keep going no matter what; if Venom was as serious as he was about this being their ''last battle'', he had to ensure that his greatest foe was brought to justice....no if's, and's or but's about it. He couldn't let Venom run amuck in the city any longer; he was going behind bars for good tonight. Peter felt a hot, searing sensation in his neck; judging by how far he had been held up by his ankles and how he landed directly on his head, he went out on a limb and assumed he had a fractured neck, but he carried on, somersaulting and backflipping away so that he was sticking to a pillar overlooking the spot where he had just been. Venom snarled as he gained his equilibrium back and leapt towards Spidey, who leaped to the left and watched over his shoulder as his enemy's large body went crashing through the pillar and onto the ground. No time for witty wise-cracks; Spidey had to stay on top of his game if this were to end in his favor.

"You bothersome little child, do you not realize who you are in the presence of? We are the king of death!", Venom managed to get out as he stood up and continued his chase of Spider-Man.

"But Elvis died _years_ ago!", Spider-Man shot back as he felt more searing pain go down his neck; so much for the wise cracks.

"You will pay with your life!"

Venom sprang forward and the two met in mid-air, trading and blocking blows left and right, once more, with neither one of them gaining any sort of upper hand as they blocked big blows and backflipped down onto the ground. Behind him, Spidey noticed a rather enormous amount of explosive barrels in front of the generator that kept the warehouse that was the setting for this fight running. For the slightest of moments, Peter thought about what could happen if either of them were to be driven into that; sudden death would surely be the result. As he looked at this sight and thought of ways to avoid it, his spider sense began to scream at him, but it was too late.

Venom was on top of him and ready to go for the final blow that surely would have killed Peter.

Too bad Eddie didn't anticipate Peter's next move.

As he wound up with his big meaty claw for a fist, Peter took a deep breath and brought his legs up so that they were underneath his chin, then shot them upwards, which, in turn, sent Eddie up as well. Peter then brought his legs down, setting Eddie on his feet for a moment, before bringing them back over his head forcefully, which sent his foe hurtling towards the generator and barrels. Thinking quickly, Peter sprang onto his feet and shot a web out at Eddie's ankle before he hit them, and then whipped him back his way into a giant metal carrier, Eddie's back making a sickening thud as it met the outside metal exterior. Peter, sensing this was the time to end the battle, jumped forward to put Eddie's lights out for good.

Too bad Peter didn't see Eddie feign injury and grab him by the throat.

"Did you like our new acting skills? We thought you would", he snarled as his tongue licked Peter's mask, causing the man wearing it to shudder underneath. "We told you that this would be the last battle between us, pathetic spider. Now it's time for the grand finale."

Eddie cocked the arm that had Peter in his grasp back and threw him, but something was off; it felt like Eddie was half-heartedly throwing Peter, like he wasn't trying to kill him. "What the hell is this?", Peter thought to himself as he still had the werewithal to twist his body around and shift his weight as he grabbed Eddie's arm and flung him over his body. Realizing what he had just done and the impending doom that was about to befell Eddie...

**"EDDIE! NO!"**

Peter shot a webline at his foe, but as he did so, it was parried by one of Eddie's own weblines, which tied his wrists around so that he couldn't shoot any weblines out.

"We meant it when we said this was our last battle! We realize that we cannot continue to live as long as you pump the blood we wish to drink through your weak body, so we have decided that we will sacrifice ourselves and never give you the satisfaction of bringing us to justice! Happy trails, Spider-Man!"

Peter went to go say something, but realizing that if he didn't get out of there as fast as possible, he'd end up like Eddie, he bolted for the nearest exit, which was directly in front of him, but it felt like miles and miles away. Without the ability to swing to the exit, Peter used his other spider-like abilities, running as fast as he could, leaping over barrels and crates, springing off the wall, each time taking a quick moment to look back at Eddie as he flew towards his death bed.

"Come on, just a few more feet!", Peter yelled at himself as he could see the door in plain sight.

Those few feet weren't enough.

The building went up in flames the moment Venom hit the barrels, which in turn knocked into the generator, and a huge electrical fire was the result. The entire warehouse went up in smoke and flames, and it would have made most firefighters blush. Sparks were everywhere, the smoldering heat made it feel like the sauna from hell, and ashes were filtering through the air. Admist the wreckage and hellfire, a lone body could be seen, just mere feet outside of the flames, crawling towards the end of a hill. The body propped itself up on their elbows and watched the flames rage on like there was no tomorrow. Pulling himself to his feet with all of his available strength, Peter Parker could of cared less about his appearance and how he felt physically. All he cared about was Eddie.

"Eddie! **EDDIE!** Are you in there!?** EDDIE!** Speak to me, man! **SPEAK TO ME!**"

Nothing but the sound of crackling, burning wood and metal melting away because of the heat. There was no body visible in the monstrosity. Peter searched and searched, called and screamed for his enemy's name, but he got nothing but ash on his suit and burn marks on his body. After all of this, it came down to tonight. And Peter was suddenly hit with a shocking realization.

Venom was dead.

"After all of that...all we've been through...the battles...teaming up to stop Carnage...nearly destroying each other...he couldn't handle it anymore...because he couldn't rid New York of me...My god...what have I done?"

He then realizes that this isn't his fault, that Venom chose to kill himself because he realized that evil would never triumph over the good. He remembered that no matter what he did, he always fought for what was right, what was just, and what was true. He then remembered what his late Uncle Ben said, his words being the catalyst for Peter becoming Spider-Man all those years ago.

_"With great power, comes great responsibility."_

And it is right there that Peter takes one last look at the fire before walking away, finding a place to swing, and swings away, back home to his Mary Jane, who is sitting in bed, flipping through the channels, worrying herself sick to see if her husband has made any headlines. She'll be relieved to find him swing into their bedroom, maskless, planting a kiss on her lips before collapsing into bed, falling asleep due to the pain and the shock of the events that took place tonight. He couldn't believe it. Three words kept repeating themselves over and over in his sleep that night.

Venom was dead.

--------------

The chamber was quiet. Cylinders spun slowly around to push the cold air in. The giant marble chair in the middle of the room was empty, sans for a snake slithering on one of the arm rests. A lone figure was seen on the balcony that overlooked the palace and had the view of the planet Earth in plain sight.

"So I'll call you tomorrow and set up times, k Trini?"

"Yeah, that'll be great, Kim. See you around noon?"

"Noon sounds great!"

"Hey, what about us? Us guys gotta have something to do!"

"You boys can have fun with each other, tomorrow is a ladies day out, if you don't mind."

"Oh whatever. You just don't wanna have the Zack-Man around. I get it. It's cool."

"You're lucky you are even standing, buddy."

"Trini, please. Lets not exacerbate the exigency any more than humanly latent, okay?"

"Trini?"

"Let's not make anything worse than humanly possible."

"Ohhhh. I see now."

"I'll call you later?"

"You better, buster. I'm gonna need some sort of distraction from my school work!"

"Alright, will do. I love you, Beautiful."

"Love you too, Handsome."

The man's telescopic vision had been all over these six teenagers all day. What he saw was sickening, enough to make him want to destroy a small planet, it was so disgusting. All the goodness. All the purity. Hatred and suffering was needed. Tapping his metal plated fingers on the balcony's ledge, the glowing red figure turned around and began to scream for his main lackey.

**"GOLDAR! GET IN HERE THIS INSTANCE!"**

A big, lumbering gold plated beast with massive wings walked into the chamber, tight grip on his sword, his head looking at his feet as he stood before his leader.

"Yes Lord Zedd, how may I be of service to you?"

"Stop groveling like a spineless puke and grow a backbone! I want you to round up as many Putties as possible. I want you to take them down to Angel Grove and have them take the citizens hostage. And then, in exchange for their safety, I want you to demand that the Power Rangers concede defeat to me! Do I make myself perfectly clear, Goldar?"

"Yes master. I will not fail you."

"See to it that you do not. Go now. Do what you are told."

Goldar bowed his head and turned on his heel, walking back to where he came, barking orders for as many Putties to be created as fast as accessible. Lord Zedd then turned to face the Earth again. He was breathing heavy, and his visor was glowing a sickly shade of red. He then slammed his fist down on the ledge as lightning bolts emerged from where he pounded it.

He would not let them suceed this time.

"Mark my words, you pathetic little Power Brats...Angel Grove...will....be....MINE! **HAHAHAHAHA!**"


	2. Spider Killers & Fiery Deaths

**AN: Sorry for the somewhat long wait, I kept losing the document until I finally banged it out and got it done! Things are starting to pick up here, so I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it! **

**Oh and I don't own anything. If I did, Tommy and Kim never would have broken up and Black Cat would have a much bigger role in Spidey's life. On with the chapter!**

The sun was beginning to set on this Wednesday in Angel Grove. School was, by now, in full swing, as it was now early October, with the consensus preparing for Halloween, and soon Thanksgiving followed by Christmas. But the three approaching holidays were not what had Jason Lee Scott's attention as he sat in his room, staring at his math homework. He looked over his shoulder at the window, watching the wind move the trees as the sun was fading away for the day. He sighed and turned to face the sheet of paper that had all sorts of confusing problems on it. His pencil was on the desk, mere inches away from the paper. His name was written on the top, but other than that, he hadn't jotted down anything. The words his father said to him kept ringing in his ears as he blankly stared at his homework.

_"Finish up your math homework, and then you can go out with your friends. No if's, and's or but's about it, Jason. School work comes first."_

Boy, what he wouldn't give for his pencil to magically come to life so it could do the homework for him. His clock read 5:15. He was supposed to meeting up with Tommy and Zack at the Youth Center at 5:30 for a sparring session.

_"Fifteen minutes. Great"_, Jason thought to himself as he tapped his fingers on his desk, alone in his thoughts before he heard a soft knock at his bedroom door. He assumed it was his dad checking up on him.

"Come in", Jason muttered as he picked up his pencil and at least looked like he was trying to get his homework done in time. And just as he had thought, his dad, Mark Scott, poked his head in and saw his son slumped over his desk in his chair. He raised a brow when he saw his son hadn't done anything.

"Hey son. How's the homework coming along?", he asked as he walked into the room and stood over Jason. Glancing at the empty sheet, he then said, "Not very good, I see."

"Oh, yeah. Um, I'm just thinking the problems out in my head dad", Jason lied. _"No, I've been thinking about getting out of the house and having a good spar with Tommy and Zack, what do you think I'm doing?"_, Jason said to himself as he gave his dad a tiny smile. "Just thinking out the problems before I do them. That's all."

"Well, think any harder and your head might explode", Mark joked as he patted his son on the shoulder. "It's only a few problems son, just finish them up and you can go and meet up with Tommy and Zack, ok? Just remember that we're having dinner at 7:30, so be home on time for that. Your mother's making spaghetti and meatballs, and I know how much you love your spaghetti and meatballs."

"Yeah...yeah, alright. No problem", Jason murmured when, right then and there, like it had done countless times before in the past....

_*Beep beep beep beep beep beep*_

The familiar six tone beep on his wrist communicator had gone off, and Jason quickly covered his wrist, hoping, **praying** his Dad hadn't noticed the sound....but he did. His brow furrowed in confusement as he looked at his now antsy son and noticed that he had his hand covering his wrist.

"Jason, what was that noise? Did you hear it?", he asked as he tried to discover the origins of it, but those thoughts gave way to the pained look on his son's face as he clutched his wrist.

"No, I d-don't know....argh", he said in a "hurt" tone as he rubbed his wrist, making sure that the red communicator underneath wasn't revealed. He quickly thought about what it could be; he was hoping (almost begging) that it was either Zack or Tommy beeping him and wondering where he was. "I don't know what you're talking about Dad, but uhm, if you don't mind....could I just have some alone time right now? I really wanna get my work done and I need to...wrap my wrist up with some tape so that I can....stabilize it", he said, hoping that his father actually bought that craptacular lie. When he surprisingly nodded his head, Jason breathed a sigh of relief on the inside as his father backed away towards the door.

"Alright Jason, do what you need to do. I was just checkin' up on ya. Remember, do your homework and then you can go out. I'll be back in twenty minutes to see how you've done", he said with a smile as he then exited and closed the door behind him. Jason waited a few seconds until he was out of earshot and then raised his communicator to his lips.

"Jason here. What's up, Tommy? You at the Youth Center already?", he asked plainly as he awaited a response, but was shocked to hear Kimberly's voice ring through on the other end.

"Jase? It's me, Kim. Listen, I know that you're doing your homework right now or heading to the Youth Center or whatever, but Zordon needs all six of us here at the Command Center, it's really urgent", she said with concern resonating through her voice as Jason sighed inwardly and now started assuming the worst.

"Alright, I'll be right there, see you in a few seconds", he said faintly as he opened his door and looked around the hall and downstairs for any sign of his parents or his little sister Christine. When the coast appeared to be clear, he stepped back inside, closed his door and muttered "Here goes nothing", before pressing the teleportation button on the communicator, disappearing in a streak of red light as he left his room.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"This darn fire won't light up...Peter? Yoo hoo, honey, where are you? Poor little Mary Jane needs help up here!"

October's were generally quite cold in New York. The coldness fluctuated from area to area, and it really depended on where you lived to see if you got the brunt of the coldness or just normal cold weather that wasn't chilling you to the bone. But for those living in Forest Hills, Queens...

"Peter! I'm freezing my ass off over here! Come help me light the fire so that I don't torch the place!"

October was a** harsh** month.

"MJ, can you just hold on for a few more seconds? I'm uh...working on one of my web shooters..."

Not believing that for a second, Mary Jane left the living room where the fireplace resided and made her way downstairs. Instead of seeing Peter work on one of his web shooters, like he said he was doing, what she saw was her husband sitting on the couch, watching the news, an issue of the Daily Bugle on the table in front of him, with the headline, **"SPIDER KILLER"** adorning the first page. On the news right now, a local news station was running a report on how Spider-Man "became some kind of monster" and "gave up his so called 'beliefs' to defeat and ultimately kill Venom." Peter looked lost amongst all of this news falling down on top of him, and to Mary Jane, it was disheartening to see her usually strong-willed husband look like this. He had been called every name in the book...but a killer he was not.

Peter grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels to all the major news stations, and, not surprisingly, everything he saw was in relation to his costumed alter ego's duel with Venom last night in that warehous on the docks. They all said the same thing; Venom was dead and Spider-Man was now being tagged as a murderer. A man who sold his soul to the devil to defeat the evil that manifested itself here in New York.

"Tiger...are you alright?", Mary Jane said slowly as she sat down next to her husband and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he shirked it away and kept his gaze on the television, flipping through the various news channels, only to find the same exact thing on every single one. It was crushing, to say the least. Was he feeling alright? Hell no.

"MJ, do I look alright?", he asked somewhat bitingly, not even turning to face her as he listened to a Fox 5 reporter talk to a civilion, who was telling a stinging tale about how Spider-Man was now a reckless killer that needed to be brought to justice by any cape or the entire NYPD for that matter.

"Spider-Man has officially turned his backs on us. Sure, Venom was a ruthless, cold-hearted _psychopath_ that killed for the sheer pleasure of it, but we could always count on ol' Spidey to bring guys like him to justice. That's not the case anymore", the civilian mused as he turned to fix his jacket and nodded his head, giving the reporter the approval to continue. "Spider-Man should be brought in and sentenced to life in prison or even the death penalty if it was lobbied for hard enough. I know that I'm only one person, but I think I can speak for quite a few people when I ask, hell, _plead_ guys like Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk or The Fantastic Four to come out and bring Spider-Man to justice. Crap, they could even try to barter a deal with those mutant X-Men freaks so they could see that Spider-Man gets what he deserves. It's a shame. But if that's how Spider-Man wants to be....then so be it."

_"Can you believe that?"_, Peter thought to himself as he turned the TV off and hung his head in defeat. His neck was in pain. He was sure he had a cracked rib or two, causing some difficulties with breathing. The stitches on his leg hurt like hell. And lord knows he had a whole laundry list of other maladies that were bothering him to no end. He put his body....his life on the line every time he slipped into the costume....and for what? To be called a killer and have everyone turn their backs on him once and for all? What had he done to deserve that? He tried saving Eddie; he really did. But Eddie wanted to die.** Wanted **to die. Why that was the case was beyond Peter's comprehension, but that's what Eddie wanted. _"Reed....Tony....Steve...Bruce...Logan...they can't believe that. They know me. They know I'm not a killer. They know. They wouldn't want to go on a manhunt to find me. They all must be as outraged by this as I am. But it figures that I'd hear something like that from a civilian....let's call ol' Cap or Mr. Iron Man, they'll save us all from that horrible Spider-Man....better yet, lets have Wolverine gut him and then have Thor, Thing and Hulk use his carcass for a fucking volleyball...."_, he thought once more.

Turning to face Mary Jane, he gave her a small, utterly sad smile as he stroked her cheek and nodded his head, before slumping his shoulders back down in defeat and letting out a beaten sigh as he stared at the carpet. Why would Eddie want to go out the way he did? Why would Eddie want to die? Unless....

"Mary Jane....", Peter started but trailed off, not believing what he was thinking at first, but slowly starting to convince himself that it was a possibility.

"What is it, Tiger?", she asked cautiously, not wanting to walk into one of his rants or set herself up for something she wasn't necessarily too keen on hearing right now.

"Do you mind if I be honest with you for a moment here?", he asked somewhat timidly, which took the red head by surprise, her widened eyes an indicator of said surprise.

"Of course you can, Peter. What is it that you want to tell me?", she said; why wouldn't she mind? She had linked her life to his; she had discovered he was Spider-Man and he didn't try to deny it, instead embracing it and growing to love her for accepting the fact that her husband was a super hero. What would stop him from being honest with her right now?

"I don't think Eddie's dead. I think he faked the entire god damned thing."

If she thought his previous question was odd, then this pretty much took the cake as far as sheer oddity went. But Mary Jane decided that she had to play it cool, act like what he had just dropped on her wasn't something that could be open for debate, something that would rock her very foundation to the core.

"Why do you say that?", she said as calmly as she could at that point. While she was totally taken back by what her web slinging husband had said, she wasn't completely caught off guard by it; she was expecting him to say it earlier than this.

"I think this is all some part of grand master scheme of his. Fake his own death, let the city turn against me and want my head on a burning steak, he magically 'comes back from the dead' ", he said, using his fingers to make quotation marks as he continued on; "He comes back from the dead seemingly, everyone has sympathy for him, they treat him like the hero and then he kills me and everyone loves it....and then Venom takes over and starts wrecking and killing things again...."

"You don't think that could have actually happened though, do you?"

"I dunno, MJ. I mean, yeah, Eddie's not the sharpest crayon in the box, but he's been known to pull nuggets of wisdom out of that boulder he calls a brain sometimes....think about it."

"Think about what?"

"For the longest time, Eddie has always tried to undermine me and sometimes, he's even tried to flat out kill me, all because, in his twisted mind, I I was a hazard to all the 'innocents'. We all know how those battles ended up; with me coming out and proving that my brand of hero-ness would always prevail. Who's to say that the lunatic didn't sit down one night and think of some big elaborate plan that would be the ultimate slap in the face to me? Who's to say that last night's battle wasn't pre-meditated?"

"Do you really think, in that big ol' heart of yours Peter, that Eddie would go through all the trouble of actually faking his own suicide attempt just so he could have the last laugh while everyone was throwing you under the bus?"

The room went silent for a few moments, with both husband and wife thinking over the words they had been speaking to each other for the past couple of minutes. Could it be true? Was it feasible? Why would he actually do that? Was he actually still alive? If so, where was he now and who was he terrorizing? All of it was so much to take in and digest...

After thinking it all through, Peter looked up to Mary Jane and gave her a very shallow look, his eyes almost empty, his face devoid of emotion before he turned and looked away.

"Yes", he said quietly, almost in a whisper. "Yes, I do."

"But they didn't find a body there at the scene", MJ said, referencing the various reports that had been literally everywhere all day long. "You even said yourself that you couldn't find it. Isn't that proof enough that Eddie might be dead? That his body was blown to smithereens and he went out with a literal bang?", she asked rhetorically, almost pleading with her husband to see it from her point of view.

"MJ, while I appreciate you trying to look at the other side of the ball and, in the process, cheer me up and try to get me to look at this more positively, and I really do appreciate it, it's why I love you...that sort of thing happens all the time. Crime scene, big explosion, no body found...sometimes it means that yes, the body was blown up, but it also means that the body could have found it's way somewhere else and is still alive...and most times, people don't have a living, breathing alien symbiote attatched to them when they get involved in said explosions."

"That's also true...listen, Peter. I know that this is bothering you to no end, and I know that it's tearing you apart on the inside, being called a killer and all of this negativity that you've been unceremoniously showered with over the last twenty four hours...but you can't let it get to you. You can't let it drag you down."

"No offense, sweetheart, but it's kind of hard for it not to drag me down, you know? This is one of the times where I just question why I ever decided to don the mask in the first place."

"With great power comes great responsibility, Tiger."

Those words stopped Peter right in his tracks. They ripped through his skin like one of Doc Ock's tentacles would his suit whenever the two of them did battle. For as many times as he questioned why he ever became Spider-Man, he knew the reasons why he did it; Aunt May, MJ, Felicia to an extent.....but most importantly, his Uncle Ben. That's why he continued to do what he did. Hell, it was the reason why he started it in the first place.

"You always know how to cheer me up, MJ. Hey, crazy question, but you're a pretty girl and I've had my eye on you for a whille...but will you marry me?"

Peter smiled for what felt like the first time in ages, and it warmed his wife's heart up to see him feeling a little better now. But before she could respond to his question, the phone began to ring off the hook. Peter stood up from the couch and walked upstairs to answer it. Instead of coming right back down, he stayed upstairs and engaged in a conversation with whoever it was on the other line. After a few minutes, Peter trudged back down and plopped onto the couch next to his wife, laying on his back, his head in her lap as she began to gently stroke his cheek and play with his hair before asking the obvious question.

"So who was that? May? Betty? Anyone I know?"

"If I told you, you'd think it was funny, or you'd think that something bad was about to happen."

"Try me, Tiger. Who was it?"

"Jonah. He wants me to come to the Bugle. Wants to talk to me about some important stuff."

"And define important stuff...?"

"Spider-Man stuff."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

The red streak of light that was Jason Lee Scott landed in the middle of the Command Center, looking around for his friends and fellow Power Rangers, before turning around and seeing the five of them huddled around the Viewing Globe, watching whatever it was they were watching and not liking what they saw one bit. Slowly walking over, Jason could hear his teammates whispers and murmures about the events taking place.

"How many of them are there?", he heard Zack ask in disbelief, shaking his head.

"At last count, at least 65, and the number appears to be growing exponentially", Billy said softly as he covered his mouth with his hand and stared, shocked at this turn of events.

"Oh, those poor people...guys, we gotta do something", Kimberly whined as Trini put a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it, trying to calm her friend in pink down.

"We will do something about it Kim. We just need to devise a plan first, that's all", Trini stated as she looked over at Billy and Zack.

"Well, we need Jason here before we do anything else, ok?", Tommy said, his question rhetorical, but everyone nodded their heads anyways as Jason stepped forward and cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention in the process.

"Worry no more, for the Red Ranger is here!", he said in a brash, joking manner, but his humor was not met well, as everyone had solemn looks on their faces and shook their heads dejectedly. Jason picked up on this very quickly and grew concerned, sliding into the all too familiar leader role that he had perfected for quite some time.

"Alright, what's going on? Why do you guys look down? What's wrong with the citizens of Angel Grove?", he asked sternly as he took a look at the Viewing Globe and was horrified at what he saw. "Oh crap..."

Goldar and what seemed like an endless amount of Putties were running around downtown Angel Grove, with Baboo and Squatt watching over the thing and laughing maniacally at the scene. Citizens were being terrorized and brought to mercy by Goldar and the Putties, and before long, the citizens of Angel Grove were being herded together and from the looks of it, they were being tossed together into a giant ring, with Goldar standing by, as ugly and evil as he's ever been. One by one though, the six Rangers started to put everything together, piece by piece, bit by bit, when finally....

"OH. MY. GOD!", shrieked Kimberly, the sudden realization of what Zedd was having Goldar do dawning on her.

"They're going to burn them alive!", Zack yelled out, while everyone else stood in stunned silence. Zedd was ruthless....but rarely was he ever a killer. Why was he starting to sink to new lows now, all of a sudden like this?

"Ay yi yi!!", said Alpha as he shuffled into the room, and the Rangers turned around to face their mentor, Zordon, who overlooked them all, a grim look on his face as he went to address his children, only to be beaten to the punch by Billy.

"Zordon, what are we going to do? We can't let Zedd send Goldar down there and mindlessly kill and burn innocent civilians alive!", exclaimed Billy while Tommy and Jason stepped to the front of the pack.

"Rangers, I understand that you are all gravely concerned about the citizens of Angel Grove....", Zordon began before, shockingly, he was cut off by the White and Red Rangers.

"We're more than concerned, Zordon! He's going to have that gold baboon burn them all alive!", said Tommy in an exasperated voice, the inner leader shining through. Jason paused for a moment before he gave his two cents, grinning, thinking to himself, _"Zordon did good naming Tommy the leader."_ He then shook that thought from his head and then chimed in.

"Tommy's right, Zordon. This is as serious as Zedd has ever gotten. Monster attacks are one thing, but senseless violence that results in multiple deaths? We need to act now!"

"Rangers, I know your need to save everyone. It is why I am glad that I chose you five", he said, nodding towards Kimberly, Jason, Billy, Trini and Zack, "And it is why I am glad that I chose you as the leader", he said as he looked at Tommy. "But it is not wise for you all to rush into battle, aided by blind ignorance and raw emotion. This is surely a trap that Zedd has designed for you to fall into", the sage explained while everyone looked at the ground and thought about it for a minute. He was right. This was probably a big trap that Zedd had planned so he could wipe them all out...

"What do we do then?", Trini asked simply, looking to Tommy and Jason for an answer, but getting nothing in the form of a response from either of them. Alpha stepped forward, arms waving frantically, every light and whatnot on his robotic body flashing, signaling that he was in full panic mode.

"Ay yi yi, Power Rangers! Goldar stated that the only way the civilians will live to see another day is if...is if you surrender your Power Coins and agree to become slaves to Lord Zedd for the rest of eternity! Ay yi yi yi yi!"

Twelve pairs of eyes grew dark and went wide upon hearing that little bit of information from Alpha. They all looked up to Zordon, and he gave them an apologetic smile, but his look said it all. Kimberly gripped Tommy's hand tightly. Jason turned his back and ran his hand through his short black hair. Zack hung his head low, his braids covering part of his face. Trini clasped her hands together and held them over her mouth, shock written all over her face. Billy looked lost in thought as he stared at his shoes. And Tommy was blown away by that; he had already been on that side of the field, and there was no way he'd ever go back, not again, not after what he did when he wore....green. He was still trying to, in his own mind, heart and soul, make up for the horrible actions he had brought upon his friends and Angel Grove a little over a year ago, when he was under Rita's control. There simply was** no way** he'd ever go evil **again**.

Finally, after all the silence, which felt like it carried on for a week, Tommy shook his head and realized that something needed to be said. He didn't know what exactly needed to be said (he was still fairly new to the whole leader deal), but he just...had to say...something.

"Guys, we can't let Zedd and Goldar do that. We need a plan, and we need one fast."

"I concur. Zedd's gone too far this time. What do you think we should do?", asked Jason as his gaze shifted from Tommy to Zordon, who was keen to let his Rangers do the talking and only interject when he felt he had to. Jason nodded his head in appreciation before looking at Zack, who spoke up and raised a finger.

"We could try guerrilla tactics. You know, hit and run, try and weaken 'em before we go for the big knockout blow", he murmured while Trini shook her head.

"No, that'd never work, Zack. Come on, think rationally. I mean, yeah, that would be a good idea if there weren't over a hundred civilians lives at stake, but we need to...", she stated before Billy cut her off, shooting her an apologetic smile before telling them of his plan.

"Perhaps we could fake them out. Mess with their minds, psyche them out, toy around with them, and then while we do that, we could move in and free the civilians and then send Goldar packing. How do you think something like that would fare?"

Kimberly, out of nowhere on sheer impulse alone, sprang to life and felt the imaginary light bulb hanging over her head click on with this (at least to her) genious idea.

"Guys, I got it!! You know how Alpha said that Zedd wants us to surrender our coins and be his slaves?", she started out, looking around to her friends, waiting for them to nod their heads, which they did, giving her the go ahead to continue. "Well then, if that's what Zedd wants, then we'll give him our Coins."

Kimberly then waited and braced herself for the obvious outburst that would come from her friends and teammates. She was expecting them to digest that thought for at least ten seconds, but given the situation...

"What?!? Are you **serious**!??"

"Have you gone crazy, Kimberly!?"

"Give him our Coins?? **GIVE HIM OUR COINS**?!?"

"Surely you must be joking, right?"

She was off by eight seconds. But then...

"I say we do it."

**"WHAT?!?!?"**

Zack, Trini, Jason and Billy all roared out in disapproval as soon as Tommy finished speaking. Kimberly was pleasantly surprised, more so shocked though, that her boyfriend agreed with her. She nudged him and flashed him a quick, bright smile, mouthing her thanks to him as he winked and turned back to his enraged teammates.

"Think about it guys. He wants our Power Coins. We can give them to him and still win."

"What do you mean, give them away and still win? How? We'd have_ NO_ powers!", Trini near screamed.

"We did it once before...", Kimberly stated simply, referring to the time when, about two weeks ago, when representatives for the World Teen Summit were in Angel Grove, and, not surprisingly, got subsequently kidnapped by Zedd. Zedd wanted their coins, and they obliged. They gave him Power Coins, alright. Chocolate Power Coins. Goldar and Zedd's Four Head monster were then defeated shortly thereafter. While it concerned everyone else, Kimberly was amused, almost annoyed even, that Zedd would want their coins again; then she remembered the innocent civilians and properly prepared herself for this task. But still, the fact remained that Zedd wanted their coins, and she simply couldn't believe that, for being called the "Dark Lord of all evil", Zedd was incredibly idiotic to want to try the same plan again.

"You mean use the chocolates to fool them before we kick their asses again?", Zack said increduously. "Seriously, Kim? That plan again?"

"Don't you think that Zedd's too smart for something like that?", Trini asked tepidly, thinking the situation over in her own head.

"Don't you think that Zedd is really dumb for trying the same plan again when it blew up in his face before?", Tommy muttered, voicing Kim's thoughts from a moment ago as it all dawned on everyone else; Ohhh yeah...

"Are you sure you want to do this, then?", Jason inquired, a stern look on his face as he looked to the Viewing Globe for a moment, transfixed with the events still playing out.

Kimberly and Tommy looked to each other, searched for an answer in their eyes, and quickly found one. Facing their fellow Power Rangers, they nodded their heads vigoriously and emphatically stated, "Yes", in tune with each other.

"Zordon, what do you think?", Billy asked, looking to their mentor, who had kept silent up until that question was posed to him.

"I think that if it worked once before, it is certaintly worth another shot right now", he said calmly in that booming voice of his, all but giving his stamp of approval on the Pink Ranger's plan.

"Okie dokie, it's settled. We're going to do this. No time to formulate a battle plan or anything like that. Just go and do what you have to do, guys", Tommy sternly stated in his best leader voice, while everyone nodded their heads accordingly. He then stepped to the front of the pack, in front of the Viewing Globe, reaching behind him. "Alright then, let's do it! IT'S MORPHIN TIME!"

"Tigerzord!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

And with that, the six multi colored beacons of light teleported out of the Command Center, with downtown Angel Grove their destination, a date with Goldar their priority.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Peter Parker stepped out of the cab he had ferried and took a moment to stare at the Daily Bugle. Considering all the time he spent there, it was practically his home away from home. Smiling as he tugged his coat back over his shoulder, protecting himself from the cold as he entered the building and took the elevator up to where Jonah's offices would be located. Stepping into the room, he didn't see Robbie anywhere, so he must have called out sick that day or whatever. As he made his way over to his boss's office in the back of the room, he came across one of the few people he had made friendly with here; a nice girl by the name of Betty Brant. She was a great girl, one who Peter had briefly dated years ago, but despite their break-up, the two had maintained their strong friendship. So needless to say, she was happy to see Peter enter the room.

"Petey! What brings you here today?", she said cheerily as she stood up from her desk and gave him a hug before motioning for him to sit down while he waited for Jonah to call him into the office.

"Oh, you know me, Betts. Just trying to make a living. Trying to avoid being fired for the ten millionth time by Jonah. Day in the life", he said with a chuckle as he peered into his boss's office and saw the flat-topped, always irritated man chomping on his trademark cigar while screaming something over the phone to somebody. Peter shook his head and chuckled to himself; some things never changed.

"Oh, he wanted to speak to you? Hmm. Probably about those awesome pictures you sent him for today's edition of the Bugle", she noted, talking about the pics of the "last battle" between Spider-Man and Venom. Betty, though, saw the downtrodden look on Peter's face and frowned. "What's the matter, Petey? Why do you look so down all of a sudden?"

"Because, Betts, I'm not really fond of the headline on the front page, to be honest", he muttered as he leaned back in his seat and let out a sigh. Betty gave him a sympathetic smile and was quick to reply to that.

"It's alright, Petey. I'm not too high on it myself. I know that Spider-Man isn't a killer. Robbie knows too. But you know how Jonah gets...he gets on his soap box, he starts saying how much he hates Spider-Man, and nobody can stop him. But trust me, Petey, you aren't alone."

Peter looked at Betty and gave her a small smile, thinking to himself, _"You don't know the half of it, Betty. You don't know."_ He was going to continue speaking when suddenly, the office door swung open and out stomped J. Jonah Jameson in all his hot-headed glory. Removing the cigar from his mouth, he saw Peter sitting there, lackadaisical almost, and then began to berate Betty for not notifying him.

"BRANT! Why didn't you tell me Parker was here! I need to speak to him!!", he exclaimed, pointing his finger in her direction. Betty, sighing, was used to this kind of behavior from Triple J, so she always had a response to his outbursts in the form of her utter calmness.

"I apologize Mr. Jameson. You know me, I find it rude to interrupt someone when they're on the phone. Oh, and before you speak to Mr. Parker here, your wife called. She wanted me to tell you that she lost all of your credit cards and can't seem to find them anywhere."

Jonah's eyes widened to proportions that Peter didn't think could happen. He went to say something, but was choked up as he fixed his tie and loosened it a bit.

"Oh, and she said to remember to watch the blood pressure as well. No more outbursts", Betty added with a smile as she went back to work on her computer, while Peter took that as his cue to walk into Jonah's office and sit down, while Jonah managed to croak out, "Thanks for the wonderful news", while he walked into the room, slammed the door shut behind him and took his place at his desk. Peter sat and wondered what this would be about; he was half expecting the usual "you're fired" spiel only to get rehired two minutes later....or he was going to get a "101 reasons why I, J. Jonah Jameson, hate Spider-Man, and why I make you listen to me, Peter Parker" rant.

But even Peter was caught off guard by what Jonah said right off the bat.

"Parker! Those shots you sent me last night weren't your usual crap that you provide. They were actually...dare I say...good? I think that's the word. Yeesh", he finished, pushing the buzzer on his desk to get Betty's attention. "Yes, Mr. Jameson?", she asked. "Ms. Brant, make sure I never complement anyone's work again, got it? Good!", he said, releasing his finger from the button.

"Really? You liked them, Mr. Jameson? Thank you very much, I really--"

"Save the thanks and cut the crap, Parker. Don't get all gooey on me because of one nice thing that I somehow managed to say without vomiting. Now, the real reason I called you here today is--"

"So you can tell me how much you hate Spider-Man while I try to defend him, only to have those defenses fall on deaf ears?"

"PARKER! Zip it! Anyways, I called you here because I noticed that you've gone over two hundred days straight without ever taking a break."

"What can I say, Mr. Jameson? I sold my soul to the devils of black and white ink news print."

"One more remark out of you Parker, or I'll fire you! Anyways, state law mandates that....uh...yeah....if you work two hundred days or more in a row...."

"Yeah, Mr. Jameson?"

"If you do so....the employer that employs you has to give you a paid month's vacation to where ever you choose...."

And just like that, Peter's spirits were lifted higher than they had been in quite some time. He thought about how elated MJ would be when he told her of this news. As Jonah continued his rambling about having to give Peter a vacation, he thought one thing to himself.

_"Maybe today isn't so bad after all."_

If Peter had thought to look out the window to his left behind Jonah, his Spider Sense would have been able to detect the figure in black intently watching him from two buildings over, laughing as it leapt away, it's destination unknown.

**AN 2: And that's it for this chapter! The Rangers battle Goldar and try to save the denizens of Angel Grove from a fiery death, Peter has a vacation to look forward to...and who's the black clad figure? Thanks for reading! And on the side, I've finally begun writing chapter seven of Resurrection, so look for that to be posted soon. Thanks again, and enjoy!**


End file.
